ROSEVILLE, Calif. (KCRA) —
“Imagine Golden 1 Center full of women, multiply that by seven and then follow those women for five years.”
Dr. Charles McDonnell said that would be the number of women needed for a clinical trial to develop a breast cancer screening that uses a blood test.
Sutter Health is collaborating with the Mayo Clinic and enrolling 120,000 women to develop a screening that can detect the beginning stages of breast cancer potentially years before a mammogram’s capability.
“Imagine tumor cells shedding little genetic pieces into the bloodstream that you can detect. You can potentially detect the cancer much earlier,” said McDonnell, a radiologist with Sutter Roseville. “It’s much more treatable and curable when caught early.”
The clinical trial is called STRIVE, and any woman can volunteer to be part of the study.
When coming in for a mammogram, patients have the option of giving a blood sample and answering a questionnaire. Their health records will be monitored for up to five years to identify genetic clues to help discover the beginnings of breast cancer.
Mammograms are currently the gold standard for breast cancer screenings, but the tests can sometimes miss cancer and, at times, yield false positive results.
McDonnell explained that a blood test has the potential of detecting breast cancer years earlier.
“Many parts of the world aren’t as fortunate as we are to have state-of-the-art 3-D mammograms and MRIs in every town,” he said. “So imagine being able to do a blood test where you could send the blood sample to another country for analysis, the impact that could have worldwide.”
The trial hopes to enroll 120,000 women by the end of the year. Thousands will be from the Sacramento region.
McDonnell estimates about a one-third of mammogram patients will agree to take part in the trial.
“There’s still a lot of questions. I mean, none of us know if we are a candidate yet — unless we have a huge family history it,” said Kimberly Trefry, who decided to take part in the trial. “So, it’s kind of a big, scary unknown for most women.”
STRIVE also seeks to yield information to detect early signs of other cancers in women.
“I am an 8-year survivor,” Lizette Martinez-Hopkins said. “When I got the information on this in an email, I (had) to participate. This is one small thing that I can do to help make a difference in the world.”
To see a list of participating sites and learn more, women can visit www.joinstrive.com or call 855-578-7483.
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Article source: http://www.kcra.com/article/sutter-health-works-to-detect-breast-cancer-with-blood-test/19697169